


The Anniversary That Could Have Been

by Anarchyinplasma



Category: Warcraft II, World of Warcraft
Genre: F/F, Gift Fic, Part 2 (kinda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 05:38:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13229175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anarchyinplasma/pseuds/Anarchyinplasma
Summary: An AU of the Anniversary that could have been.Yet more things inspired by Soraan's sublime Dark Ranger series, though this time it's technically Farsrider.





	The Anniversary That Could Have Been

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Soraan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soraan/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Truth Be Told](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7335739) by [Soraan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soraan/pseuds/Soraan). 



> Ok, so I lied. There is a bit more.
> 
> This is actually two little snippets I've had hanging about since I originally read the series, and had to write myself immediate closure because it hurt. However, after yesterday, I decided more couldn't hurt, so I cleaned them up and stitched them together, and here we are. (I apologise in advance for A: getting all the characters wrong... again, and B: if the formatting is a bit wonky, I'm not exactly sure if it'll work properly).
> 
> This is the last of it though, promise.
> 
> Also worth noting my grasp of geography in the WoW verse is not amazing, so I probably got a few things wrong.

It was said, in certain parts of Quel’Thalas, that if you were a ranger, the Eversong forest would sing to you. This was of course, entirely untrue, and came from the old adage that a ranger could make the woods sing with the sound of arrows. However, in the patch of woodland near the Windrunner spire, the woods would, on occasions once a year, appear to be singing.   
  
From a small grove, hidden by a dense caste of trees, Alyna Windrunner neé Salonar sat with her legs curled under her, and holding a rose in her hands, singing to the flower. The words flowed effortlessly from her tongue in Thalassian, weaving a tapestry to the arcane of what she wanted to accomplish. She could have simply used a brute force method of approach, forced the magic to do what she wanted, but this way required so much more finesse, and, in her eyes, that was so much more romantic; and, after all, was that not what any woman wanted for her anniversary?   
  
Once the rose was prepared with basic spells, simple ones, just to ward off harm to the one who carried it, as she did intend it to go into Sylvanas’ hood, behind her left ear (as was in fashion these days). Then, she started the song proper.   
“I ask of you, Eversong, a gift for my other half. That this rose might protect her when I cannot, that it might possess beauty to match hers.” Alyna kept singing, and unsheathed Felo’alann, laying it flat upon the ground. She placed the rose upon the flat of the blade, and unsheathed another, smaller knife, from her boot.   
  
First, she cut off her a lock of her own hair, singing all the while, and tucked it within the rose’s petals. Secondly, she pricked her finger with the tip of the blade, allowing a bead of deep crimson to form; and drew the cut along the carefully de-thorned stem of the rose, smearing it with her blood. All the while, she kept singing.   
“...and so I offer you my life force, for on that occasion when neither I, nor my magic are enough to protect her, may my very essence be what is sacrificed, so that Sylvanas Windrunner may live.” She paused for a moment, and considered her wording, before adding “should it come to that.”   
  
The rose started to shimmer, and then warp. The stem slowly hardened, and then began to shift in colours, sifting through the eight-colour magical spectrum until it had settled upon a deep ruby, exactly as the blood Alyna had smeared along its spine. Once there, it altered its physical structure again. Crystallizing in a shimmering wave that swept across the stem of the rose and turned it into ruby the colour of fresh blood.   
  
The petals surrounding the raven lock of Alyna’s hair likewise transformed, eventually settling on a pale blue-grey hue, exactly the same colour as Sylvanas’ eyes, and yet perfectly clear. They also knitted together, forming an airtight diamond to enclose the delicate lock Alyna had tucked within the petal’s protective grasp while still retaining their distinctive footprint.   
  
With a final muted flash, the petals sealed, ever shifting rings of arcane energy looping through them, weaving slow ever-shifting lines in the deep blue of Alyna’s own eyes across the pale blue-grey diamond in gentle arcs of scintillating colour. Sighing with contentment, she conjured up a simple wooden box for her gift, emblazoned with the words  _ Ama noral'arkhana dalah’surfal _ upon the side; and left the grove happy with her work.   
  
\----   
  
In another part of Eversong, near the Farstrider Academy, Sylvanas Windrunner sat in a familiar clearing, making a bow. She’d taken a lithe, supple branch,and had already constructed the basic arc, test fitting several of Alyna’s bowstrings she’d taken from her wife’s kit for this purpose. Now, all she had to do was make it pretty. She test fitted all four strings a final time, and then got to work with the engraving.   
  
First things first, she cleared aside an area in the middle of the bow to serve as the grip. Sylvanas whittled down the area to a flat, rectangular surface, and then wrapped it in a layer of cloth to serve as a base; then she proceeded on to the rest of the bow, the riser would have to be finished last.   
  
She started at the ends of the limbs, carving the tips into the open petals of a rose, and worked her way down, determined to include as much of Alyna’s heritage as she could. The open roses at the tips of the limbs gave way to lush and intricately carved garden vistas, which themselves gave way to mighty red dragons, spewing forth tongues of flame, which with a little bit of persuasion, formed an intricate guard over the handle, and continued into their mirror image on the other side.   
  
It took her eight hours, but eventually, Sylvanas had the piece almost fully finished, varnished, and enchanted by Alyna’s grandfather, Grand Magister Belo’Vir Salonar had been only too happy to help when Sylvanas had dropped by his office with an object wrapped in silken cloth and a request for magical assistance. With her permission, he had woven the magic of her own blood into the bow, so long as Alyna wanted to hit her target, this bow would do it’s level best to provide.   
  
\----   
  
As was usual, Sylvanas got home later then her wife, staggering through to door in her normal Farstrider attire and a “I’m really sorry I’m late.” to Alyna, who was dressed in evening finery, ready for the meal which had been prepared on their balcony. Alyna sighed as Sylvanas set everything which she had been carrying down on their bed, grabbed her own prepared dress from the wardrobe, and hurried into the bathroom to change.   
  
Ten minutes later, she hurried from the spacious bathroom, smoothed down her dress, and put her final earring in. Alyna smiled and grasped her by the shoulders as she drew closer, spinning her around to fix her necklace and hair at the back; moving her hands down to embrace Sylvanas and place a gentle kiss on the nape of her neck, smiling as she felt her wife relax. 

 

“We should probably eat before the food gets cold.” Sylvanas mumbled after a few minutes. Alyna groaned into her spine.   
“Mmm....” She dragged the utterance out, the sound hanging off the edge of her tongue as she reluctantly relinquished her hold on Sylvanas to sit and start eating.   
  
Once finished with their superb food, Alyna stood, pulled Sylvanas’ chair out for her and gestured to the sound system in the corner. A slow dance started to play, light, soft notes prancing across a field of melodic snow. The couple started to slow dance, swaying gently to the music as Alyna rested her head on Sylvanas’ shoulder and let her wife lead. They danced for ages, swaying gently to the rhythm, before Alyna reached over to their bed, removed her gift from the box containing it, and placed it behind Sylvanas’ ear, tucking her hair over it. Sylvanas, curious to know what the object actually was, removed it, and then dropped it in shock.   
  
Alyna caught it from the air.   
“I worked quite hard on that, if you could not break it not two seconds after I give it to you, that would b-” she never finished her sentence because she was cut off by Sylvanas kissing her hard. For a moment she was shocked, before wrapping her arms around her wife and replacing the rose, and then melting into the kiss. Sylvanas broke it after a few more tender seconds, and presented to Alyna her gift.   
  
Alyna kissed her as she examined the bow to her liking, amazed by the intricacies of the carving, right down to the fine scales on the snouts of the dragons, and they proceeded to more intimate affairs.   
  
\----   
  
Alyna yawned, rolled over, and buried her face into the crook of Sylvanas’ neck, resting her head where her wife’s met the pillow. Sylvanas grumbled in her sleep and tightened her grip, trying to pull Alyna even closer towards her. Alyna smiled and laid a kiss where her lips were resting, not in any great hurry to deny Sylvanas any contact, when her eyes fell on strands of their hair, slowly, an idea formed in her tired mind, and her fingers went to work, braiding their hair into a golden lattice interlaced with her own dark strands as she drifted gently off to sleep.   
  
When Sylvanas woke, several hours later, she found she could not move her head past a certain margin, as Alyna's cute little braiding exercise had locked their heads together. She rolled her eyes and lay back down, beginning to painstakingly undo the braiding Alyna had constructed. Alyna woke up when she was halfway done.   
“Aww Sylvanas,” she pouted “I thought it was cute” Sylvanas rolled her eyes again and lightly flicked the end of her wife's nose. Alyna growled at her playfully; and they both got up to face the day.   
  


\----

 

Alyna laughed from her chair near the balcony as Sylvanas walked through the door and collapsed into their bed at Windrunner spire without even removing her armour. In all fairness, it had been a harrowing day for the Ranger General, 3 skirmishes, and several hours dealing with politicians. Even with some of that workload on her, Alyna had at least made it through the door before nightfall. Her poor wife hadn’t even been able to manage that, staggering in just before the clocks would chime midnight. She set down her book and made her way to bed, laughing as Sylvanas groaned in protest at the buckles on her armour.   
  
Climbing into bed, Alyna reached over and unbuttoned Sylvanas’s cape for her, letting the rich material flow from the bed and onto the floor, also undoing the buckles at the shoulders for her before commenting   
“I'm not going to do all the work.” Sylvanas smiled at her.   
“You already do so much more for me than you could ever know” she replied, voice heavy with fatigue. Alyna gave her shoulder a fond shove.   
  
“Get undressed and get in bed, I wanna sleep.” Sylvanas chuckled as she rose lethargically.   
“So impatient, my darling.” She laughed when Alyna swatted at her with a pillow, before removing her armour, dressing in her nightclothes, and getting into bed.   
  
“Finally.” Alyna murmured, immediately curling up to the warmth her wife provided and burying her face in the crook of her neck. It was all Sylvanas could do to wrap Alyna in her arms, close her eyes, and fall straight to sleep.   
  
When Alyna woke up the next morning, at six am sharp, the first thing she noticed was that Sylvanas was holding her in a death grip, it took her nearly five minutes to extract herself from the embrace, careful not to wake her sleeping wife. She quickly ran through her morning routine of exercises, showered, dressed, penned a small note to Sylvanas, left it on the pillow, left a kiss on Sylvanas’ forehead, went to get a quick breakfast, and set off for the outpost.   
  
When Sylvanas woke up the next morning, there was a conspicuous lack of a wife. She sat up and rolled her shoulders, spotting a note on the pillow next to her. With care, the Ranger-General unfolded the paper bird (the human practice of origami fascinated Alyna, and she loved to practice it occasionally), to read the note her wife had left.   
  
_ Good morning _ __  
__  
_ First things first, I've already arranged a day off for you, so don't even bother coming by the outpost. _ __  
  
Sylvanas couldn’t help but laugh, Alyna knew her so well.   
  
_ Secondly, I'm only in half-a-day, but I'm doing your paperwork for you, so don't worry about getting behind. _ __  
  
Sylvanas winced, she'd had a mountain of paperwork lately, due to new recruits, and a steady increase in troll attacks as their numbers were increasing. She'd have to thank Alyna profusely for lightening that load, it was a good thing her wife could forge her signature.   
  
_ Finally, I want you to try and relax? Please? You've been running yourself into the ground over recruitment, when you really don't have to. Have a nice long shower, bath, whatever. Just relax. I'll be home by about one. _ __  
__  
_ Your loving wife. _ __  
_ Alyna Windrunner _ __  
  
Below the name was a pair of lips, in some exceptionally red lipstick, Sylvanas smiled and lay back, reading over the note once more, and glancing at the timepiece on the wall. It was about half past nine, Sylvanas scowled, she hated sleeping in. She got up and dutifully went through her morning exercises. Then decided to take Alyna's advice, and took a relaxing shower.   
  
Half an hour later, she finally left their bedroom and went to get breakfast. Her mother insisted Sylvanas join her at the table, and so she did, pouring herself some nice herbal tea.   
  
“I wasn't aware you had the day off Sylvanas” her mother broached the subject. Sylvanas looked down, as though she could see through the table to her shoes.   
“I... didn't really have a choice. Alyna left me to sleep in and arranged the day off as surprise.” She took a drink of tea sheepishly, savouring the warm concoction. Her mother laughed.   
“And she was right to do so! You've been busier than usual, and you needed a break. Everyone heard you stagger in at midnight yesterday, you made an awful racket on the stairs. Sylvanas blushed and became very interested in her tea. Her mother laughed.   
“It’s quite all-right, dear, better than what we normally hear you get up to. That orb is not nearly as effective as you think.”   
  
Sylvanas choked on her tea, coughing madly, and hurriedly left the table, escaping from her mother’s quiet laughter as quickly as she could.   
  
True to her word, Alyna returned home at near enough to noon, striding up the entryway to Windrunner spire, she heard the tell-tale swish and thunk of arrows hitting a tree. She sighed fondly.   
“Oh Sylvanas, can’t even relax for one day can you?”   
  
She found her wayward wife going through a standard exercise, matching groupings of three arrows at specific points, marked out by pins on the tree. Sylvanas didn’t appear to have heard her approach, so Alyna waited until she’d emptied her quiver, and was about to collect her arrows, before wrapping her arms around Sylvanas’ waist and pressing a light kiss to the nape of her neck. Sylvanas melted into the embrace instantly, relaxing backwards into Alyna’s arms.   
  
“I have been  _ so bored _ . You have  _ no idea. _ ” she said. Alyna laughed.   
“Well while you were being bored, so was I, finishing  _ your _ paperwork, which  __ you were behind on, Mrs Windrunner…” she drew her fingers slowly up Sylvanas’ ticklish side, eliciting a very un-Sylvanas giggle, which the general quickly tried to suppress, with limited results. Alyna laughed lowly into her ear. Sylvanas turned in her arms.   
“I hope my paperwork wasn’t too much trouble?” Alyna smiled.   
“Hardly, I perfected forging your signature over a century ago.” Sylvanas gave her a scandalised look, and Alyna wiped it off her face with a quick kiss, which quickly devolved into other, much more carnal activities.   
  
Later, lying on Alyna’s cape, just inside the woods that bordered Windrunner spire, Sylvanas was seized by a memory and took a knife to the tree behind them. Alyna laughed when she saw what she was doing.   
“I thought that activity was ‘silly’ and ‘juvenile’?” she mocked. Sylvanas laughed.   
“That was before I was bored.” She replied.   
“Bored?!” Alyna affected a hurt tone. “Do I do that bad a job at satisfying your urges, oh wife!” Sylvanas collapsed laughing, almost stabbing herself as she dropped the knife on her arm. Alyna quickly plucked it out of her grasp, and finished the last few chips from the bark, before sheathing it again.   
  
“No more playing with sharp objects for you.” She chastised, layering kisses up the arm that Sylvanas had just almost stabbed. Her wife chuckled and pulled her close.   
“Noted, now come here, I didn’t get my required amount of time with you this morning.” Alyna laughed but lay down obediently, curling up against Sylvanas’ warmth and adopting her favourite position with her face buried in the crook of Sylvanas’ neck as her general played with her hair.   
  
“I got us both the day off tomorrow as well.” Alyna mumbled sleepily into Sylvanas’ neck after a few moments. The general snorted in amusement.   
“Why am I not surprised. ‘Alyna Windrunner, Blatant Rule Breaker’.” Alyna laughed into her collarbone, layering a kiss once she was done.   
“Kyala didn’t seem to have a problem bringing me the forms.” Sylvanas let out another snort of laughter.   
“Of course not, us being off means she gets less people forcing her to actually work. She’ll probably try spend the whole day terrorising Alleria”   
“Oh dear” Alyna replied, not sounding the least bit repentant. “Unless you want to spend the night in the woods, we should get back.” she muttered eventually. Sylvanas chuckled.   
“True. My mother did warn me though, the enchantments seem to be wearing off on that orb of yours.” Alyna blushed bright red and Sylvanas took advantage of her shock to press a kiss to the tip of her nose, something she would only ever do in utter privacy.   
“You’re so cute when you blush.” Alyna’s jaw dropped very briefly before she pressed a kiss to Sylvanas’ lips in revenge, finished getting dressed, and started walking back to the spire.   
  



End file.
